Saudi religious police supporter arrested: reports

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s blogosphere has reported that a controversial religious figure was detained on Saturday after publicly opposing on Twitter the restructuring of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

The prerogatives of the commission were drastically clipped this month after the cabinet decided they should be limited to reporting suspicious cases to the police or the anti-drugs squads who will be fully in charge of all the measures that include chasing, arresting, detaining and questioning suspects.

Under the new role, the commission will focus on promoting Islamic values and contributing alongside the specialised anti-drugs agencies in fighting drugs by explaining their negative effects on families and the community.

Conditions for recruiting new members were also amended to include a high education degree, competence to promote virtue and prevent vice, a good reputation and satisfactory behaviour.

Before the decision, the commission was empowered to arrest people and to ask for their identity papers.

The cabinet move was largely hailed as a step forward in the modernisation of the state institutions.

However, some conservative members of the society saw it a setback for the commission and pushed for the revocation of the decision.

“This is a compromise on religion that is meant to please the West and appease their pressure,” Abdul Aziz Al Turaifi, the religious figure, posted on his account on the microblog.

The charge was very serious and triggered a wave of condemnation among Saudi online users who accused Al Turaifi of inciting divisions within the Saudi society.

“He should be severely punished for provoking sedition,” one user said.

No official comment to confirm or deny the arrest has been issued yet.